2da Files

Information on 2da files, which are essentially 2 dimensional array tables of information.

Note a lot of information on specific 2da files are on different pages, such as Spells and Abilities for spells.2da.

2da Format

The 2da format is relatively simple:

• The top line must be 2DA V2.0
• There may be one or more blank lines before the first line that contains characters, which is considered the header line
  • The first column header must be blank, and that column is ignored (is usually a human readable number)
    • The first column number IDs can be wrong - the game just reads each new line as a new entry (incremented from 0)
  • The second and onwards columns must have the header match the in-game reference loaded, the order of columns doesn't matter. Label columns are generally ignored.
• Further lines are data rows:
  • Column data - but not the header name - can be in double quotes - "text here" - to include spaces. Whether or not the game understands that one being in quotes very much depends
  • Column data is separated by one or more whitespace characters (tabs, spaces)
  • Blank data is classified with 4 stars: ****
    • You can quote the stars ("****") or have a blank quoted field which, of course, is blank ("") but any other combination of stars (less, more, or in single quotes) will be returns literally.

This all comes together to mean some very odd looking 2das can be completely valid.

You can find notes on reading 2DA files in scripts at the Lexicon page for Get2DAString. Main thing to note is on error (no column or row matching etc.) and on blank entries it returns an empty string.

Missing Columns versus Blank Columns (****)

There is different behaviour for certain columns where the column is missing entirely (eg; using a old 1.69 version of a 2da) versus the column being present but blanked (****). A notable example is the additional columns in racialtypes.2da which defaults to the 1.69 implementations if the columns are not present to maintain comatibility, and where **** can actually be counted as "Empty value" instead of "Missing value" meaning different behaviour.

Order of Columns

The game generally won't care what order columns are in except for two exceptions;

• swearfilter.2da cannot be rearranged
• The first column of the spell preference 2da files
• itemprops.2da appears to be hardcoded due to the PropColumn in baseitems.2da (although not sure if you can add more columns to it).

Adding Columns

Most game read 2da files (if not all) can have custom columns added but these are only useful for Get2DAString (and it's a much better idea to create a custom 2DA file for additional metadata).

In one instance in NWN:EE this has a valid use case the engine recognises: Additional "Spellbook" columns in spells.2da, which are now referenced by column name in classes.2da.

2DA Line Limits

There are a limit to the amount of lines the engine will properly use for 2da files. This is restricted due to network traffic (even in SP there is a "server" running) since the game was made for dialup so Bioware coded in a lot of practical limits to lower packet sizes (presumably...)

Unused 2da files

Bioware left in some 2da files from early development (before game release). These files are not loaded by the game, toolset or Get2DAString at all and can be ignored. They do get confusing however.

• areaeffects.2da - See persistent.2da instead
• caarmorclass.2da - remnants of armour system?
• catype.2da - remnants of creature parts system?
• combatmodes.2da - Unused references to (a limited set) of combat action modes
• doortype.2da - See doortypes.2da instead
• effectanim.2da - See visualeffects.2da instead
• metamagic.2da - Appears to be unused by the game making all of these hardcoded
• nwconfig.2da - Unused as of NWN:EE since it removes the "settings" nwconfig program.
• nwconfig2.2da - Was this ever used?
• resistancecost.2da - Blank
• soundcatfilters.2da - Replaced probably by rrf_wav.2da and would be toolset specific anyway
• soundtypes.2da - Sounds are not tied to a 2da, but are done by resource name
• treasurescale.2da - I don't think this is used anywhere of note. It'd be used in the toolset I'd guess but there isn't a treasure generation system there.
• vfx_fire_forget.2da - See visualeffects.2da instead

Designer 2da files

These are strictly used by Get2DAString and not used by the game inherently. However the systems they relate to are things like crafting, which is called by default game scripts and conversations the PCs can activate.

They are all prefixed des_ - and being only used by Get2DAString they are serverside only.

There is one special case here: x3restrict.2da is used in the default game spells to restrict polymorph spells when casting on a horse. Added for horse support.

Toolset only 2da files

These are only used by the toolset, not directly by the game:

• environment.2da - Used to load some initial lighting settings in the Area Properties.
• itmwizXXX.2da - Item Wizard 2da files, they relates to what properties are valid for each item type (eg; Melee) and are generated by the wizards.
• repute.2da - Used to define the default reputations of Player, Hostile, Commoner and Merchant in a new module
• rrf_nss.2da - Filters for scripts in the toolset
• rrf_wav.2da - Filters for sounds in the toolset
• waypoint.2da - "waypoint" types, of course in game are never rendered

Client and Serverside 2das

The game as a whole is made up of the client and the server. A singleplayer game essentially runs both at once for the local user - of course other players may still join if it is created as a network game. Therefore it is important to understand which is which, since some 2da files you don't need to include at all in hakpack or nwsync resource lists, and can be left in the .mod or override folder on a PW server perfectly fine.

The client ones tend to be based around levelling up, appeareances, visuals (icons, vfx, textures, etc.) and sounds (the latter 3 servers don't even load of course). Servers need to know about all the resources loaded by the game in regards to objects, spells, etc.

It is recommended of course for the server to have copies of everything (if only for Get2DAString lookups) while you can lessen the amount put in client hakpacks or on nwsync if sending certain ones to the client.

Note: If a file is not listed here (or above as a toolset only, or unused one) it might still be used!

Client and Server

Client Only

While many of these are only loaded by the game client, the toolset would still make regular use of them, for instance, to be able to have a blueprint reference a particular wing model on a suitable NPC.

It is always recommended to have these available on the server if only for Get2DAString lookups.

Server Only

NWNX Reference

Source of what is referenced by the game engine (not complete - some 2da files seem to be loaded from elsewhere such as swear filters). It relates to this file: https://github.com/nwnxee/unified/blob/master/NWNXLib/API/API/CTwoDimArrays.hpp

    // client+server
    m_paIPRPCostTables // all of them
    m_pAppearanceTable
    m_pGenderTable
    m_pSurfaceMaterialTable
    m_pVisualEffectTable
    m_pPersistentVisualEffectTable
    m_pCreatureSpeedTable
    m_pDoorTypesTable
    m_pGenericDoorsTable
    m_pPlaceablesTable
    m_pAreaTransitionTable
    m_pIPRPSpells
    m_pIPRPLightTable
    m_pIPRPColor
    m_pIPRPMelee
    m_pItemPropDefTable
    m_pItemPropsTable
    m_pCreatureSizeTable
    m_pArmorTable
    m_pEncumbranceTable
    m_pPortraitTable
    m_pPartsChest
    m_pSpellSchoolTable
    m_pTrapTable
    m_pLightColorTable
    m_pIPRPDamageTable
    m_pPartsRobe
    m_pItemValue
    m_pPackages
    m_pRuleset

    // client only
    m_pPartTable
    m_pArmorTypesTable
    m_pTileColorTable
    m_pReplaceTextureTable
    m_pTailModelTable
    m_pWingModelTable
    m_pCloakModelTable
    m_pCursorTable
    m_pActionsTable
    m_pAmbientMusicTable
    m_pAmbientSoundTable
    m_pFootstepSoundsTable
    m_pAppearanceSoundsTable
    m_pWeaponSoundsTable
    m_pDefaultACSoundsTable
    m_pAmmunitionTypesTable
    m_pKeymapTable
    m_pPlaceableSoundsTable
    m_pDamageLevelTable
    m_pEffectIconsTable
    m_pLoadHintsTable
    m_pSwearFilterTable
    m_pPhenoTypeTable
    m_pIPRPVisualFxTable
    m_pWeatherTypesTable
    m_pProgFxTable

    // server only
    m_pStateScriptsTable
    m_pPoisonTable
    m_pDiseaseTable
    m_pRepAdjustmentsTable
    m_pFractionalCRTable
    m_pEncounterDifficultyTable
    m_pCategoryTable
    m_pExcitedDurationTable
    m_pRestDurationTable
    m_pPartsBelt
    m_pPartsBicep
    m_pPartsFoot
    m_pPartsForearm
    m_pPartsHand
    m_pPartsLegs
    m_pPartsNeck
    m_pPartsPelvis
    m_pPartsShin
    m_pPartsShoulder
    m_pXpBase
    m_pAssociatesAnimalCompanionTable
    m_pAssociatesFamiliarTable
    m_pSkillVsItemCostTable
    m_pRangesTable
    m_pPolymorphTable
    m_pDamageHitVisualTable
    m_pBodyBagTable
    m_pIPRPFeatsTable
    m_pIPRPMonsterDamageTable
    m_pOnHitTable
    m_pOnHitSpellTable
    m_pOnHitDurationTable
    m_pIPRPACModTypeTable
    m_pIPRPWeightIncTable
    m_pIPRPArcSpell
    m_pIPRPBonusCostTable
    m_pIPRPSRCostTable
    m_pIPRPNeg5CostTable